Finding Nicky a Girl
by singingstarryknights
Summary: Nick Stokes thinks he’s found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Now all he needs is Sara’s opinion. Number 28 in the Ducks in a Row Series.
1. Chapter 1

Finding Nicky a Girl

…………

Nick Stokes thinks he's found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Now all he needs is Sara's opinion.

(Part One of Two- more Greg in the next part)

…………

"So who's the girl?" Sara glanced over at Nick, as they sat at the counter in hers and Greg's kitchen.

"Who said there was a girl? I never said there was a girl." Nick threw her a grin as he stirred his coffee gently.

"Cough it out, Stokes."

"Am I that obvious?" Sara's features twisted into a small smile.

"Always. Who is she?" At her arched eyebrow, Nick laughed gently, finally returning her gaze.

"She's a singer in this jazz trio."

"We talking about a potential Mrs. Stokes, or are we talking about another one night stand?" Sara raised her mug to her lips, taking a sip.

"She sings with Jake Norton."

"Warrick's friend Jake? Who played at my wedding?"

"Yeah."

"That means she's an amazing musician. He only plays with the best."

"Yeah."

"Young?"

"Not terribly."

"Well, go on." Nick pursed his lips, and took a deep breath.

"Her name is Grace."

"That's pretty."

"She's forty-three last month."

"That's a little young, Nicky."

"You going to be supportive, or am I going to have to talk to Nora about this?" He smiled warmly at his best friend, and she returned his grin.

"No, no, no. Sorry. I'm supportive. Tell me."

"She has a ten year old."

"Instant family."

"Yeah. He's really adorable. Adam. Adam's his name."

"Are you ok with not having children of your own?" Sara peered at him, running a hand through his salt and pepper hair affectionately.

"I, umm."

"You aren't."

"Not really. I mean, Nora, Nora I love as if she was my own, you know? I always thought that that was enough for me."

"But it's not." Sara's heart broke when she saw him blink away gentle tears. "Nicky, it's ok." He nodded, smiling as he wiped away fresh tears.

"It's not though. In the back of my mind, I never worried about having children. I figured that you and I would have one someday." He blushed, embarrassed. "I know, crazy."

"Whoa no, don't go changing the subject." She smiled warmly over her mug, gently scolding. They would come to terms with that another time. "Grace. Forty-three. Ten-year old son named Adam. Continue." He laughed, taking a sip of his coffee.

"She's got the prettiest curly red hair."

"You and red hair, Nicky."

"I know. I love red hair."

"So do I get to meet her?"

"We've only been out a few times, Sara."

"But you like her."

"Yeah." Nick ran his hands over his face wearily.

"She playing tonight?"

"Yeah. They have a few sets at this jazz club off strip tonight."

"Should I dress up, or is it casual?" Sara ran her fingers through her hair, smiling encouragingly. She swept her eyes over her longtime friend quickly. Yeah, he was definitely falling hard for this Grace woman.

"Sara-"

"Look, I have to meet her before you fall completely in love with her." And Nick laughed at this, more sincerely than he had in a long time.

…………

"You look nice." Greg laid his copy of Rolling Stone down on their bed, pulling his knees to his chest, as he watched Sara pull a conservative, yet shapely black shirt over her head. His eyes swept over the rest of her body, gracefully wrapped in a flowing little skirt that he would have thought she had nicked from June Cleaver, save for the paisley print, an indicator that Nora had bought it, last Christmas, if he remembered correctly. She twisted around to smile at him, and grabbed her necklace with the tiny diamond he had given her for Mother's day when she was pregnant, closing the distance between them, and handing it to him. He clasped the delicate chain around her neck, and she pressed a loving kiss to his lips.

"Thanks."

"Hot date?" He grinned at her, briefly looking thirty again for a moment, flopping back down on the bed.

"Just Nick. Should I be this nervous about meeting this Grace woman?" She turned back to the mirror against the bathroom door, smoothing the invisible crinkles in her skirt.

"Nah. He'll have a different one next week."

"I think this one has potential, Gregory."

"Yeah, but Nick said that about the last one, what was her name?"

"Anne Something."

"Exactly."

"Be supportive."

"I'm only saying there isn't much point." At the front of the house, the door opened and closed, and Nick's familiar Texan tambre called out from the living room.

"Hey, you ready?"  
"He's a charmer, Sara, watch out." Sara nodded her head toward the door, and Greg sighed, making his way to follow her.

"Don't rain on his parade. I've been trying to marry him off for fifteen years."

…………

"I like her."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Sara settled back in her chair, observing her friend. Nick grinned at her, then turned his gaze toward Grace. He was completely captivated, watching her swaying to the bridge of the song, listening to Warrick's friend Jake wail out a few notes on a tenor sax.

Grace Bartlett let her eyes scan the crowd, settling on Nick. They had been out a few times, he seemed too good to be true. Honest, loving, considerate, chivalrous, polite. Ten years older than her. Not that he looked or acted fifty-three in anyway, except for the salt and pepper hair that he wore, in her opinion, better than George Clooney.

She really liked him. Could see herself settling down with him. Had introduced him to Adam. Adam seemed to take a real liking to him. That kid was the best judge of character she knew. It was the least she could do for him, after how his father had left, to find him a decent replacement. But there was something special about Nick Stokes, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

She glanced at Jake, and picked up the chorus again, pouring sultry melodies into the microphone, eyes holding Nick's. The woman sitting next to him must be that Sara woman he had mentioned before. The one with the daughter, what was her name… Nora. Nick's honorary niece, Nora, who he adores. Two more songs, and they were off. Two more songs, and she got to see Nick. She couldn't help but smile, her knees all but giving way when he smiled back.

"You going to marry her?" Sara glanced at her friend, taking a sip of the Jack and Coke by her hand.

"I was thinkin' about it." Sara turned fully toward him, watching him grin broadly. "Bought a diamond, actually."

"Really."

"Yeah."

"And I haven't seen it, because?" She took another sip, and set the drink down. "I didn't help you pick it out, because?"

"Because it's just a stone. And I sent it to Nora. She's going to make the ring, and set it." Nick flashed Sara a gentle smile, and took a sip of his identical drink.

"My Nora."

"Yeah. I talked to her about it, I had her on the phone when I went looking, she's got an eye for that sort of thing, well, an ear, I guess, and after three shops, I asked her to do it."

"But you're my best friend."

"She's the artist. Said she was taking three metals classes this semester, and one of them was some kind of jewelry design blah blah bohemian something or other. I trust her. What?"

"She didn't say anything to me about it."  
"Relax, Sara, you're the one who's meeting her. Nora's only heard me ramble on and on about her."

"So when are you asking her?"

"Next Thursday. Nora's bringing the ring home with her Wednesday."

"You're asking this woman to marry you next week?"

"What?"

"Nicky, I hardly know her." Nick chuckled, sitting back in his chair. "This is a little fast, don't you think?"

"I'm fifty-three years old, Sara. Closing in on fifty-four. I'm not young enough for this to move too fast." Nick took a sip of his drink, and smiled softly at her.

"You going to adopt the kid, then?"

"She has to say yes first."

"Pending she does."

"Yeah. I really like him."

"You like him, or the idea of him?" She watched Nick closely, as he set down his drink, and rubs his hands over his features for a brief moment, before taking a deep breath.

"I want what you have."

"You want Greg? He's shit at laundry-" She chuckled into her drink, and he rolled his eyes at her attempt to lighten the mood. Greg was really rubbing off on her, still, after almost twenty years together.

"I want someone to utterly and completely adore, everyday, for the rest of my life. And I think this is the girl." He flashed her a weary smile. "I'm the last, you know. I'm the baby, I'm the one they all worry about. 'When is Uncle Nicky going to have kids? Why isn't Uncle Nicky married?' My three oldest siblings have grandchildren. Grandchildren."

"Nick, they're pushing seventy. It's normal for them to have grandchildren."

"That's not my point and you know it." He smiled at her, and she returned, relaxing knowing that he wasn't going to let this become one of there serious conversations. "Sometimes I feel like Grissom."

"What?" Sara arched a surprised eyebrow at him, and cast her gaze on Grace and Jake. "You are not like Grissom."

"I am though. I'm fifty-three years old, and I have nothing to show for it."

"And marrying Grace will?'

"Give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Give me something to hold on to that isn't yours, at school all the way in Chicago." Nick's eyes remained focused on the redhead standing next to Jake, and he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling softly.

"You are going to propose to Grace because you miss Nora?" Sara chuckled at this notion. She had known that Nick and Nora had developed a close bond, Nora often thought of Nick as her third parent, confided in him often, and their separation with Nora's first year away at school in Chicago had deeply affected both of them. Evidence of this would be last semester's cell phone bill.

"I never wanted someone to grow old with until I started growing old by myself." He smiled sadly at her, "I'm petrified I'll end up like that woman we found in the closet. She was dead for three weeks and nobody noticed. That's a horrible way to leave." Sara didn't have a response to this, and they sat in comfortable silence, listening to Grace wrap up the last chorus of one of Jake's originals.

Grace listened quietly as the soft applause died down. Last number. She turned to Jake, a broad grin across her features, her eyes sparkling softly in the dim light, and spoke to him, into the microphone.

"Let's sing a little southern charm, J." Jake nodded, returning her smile.

"You got it, Gracie." He turned to the pianist. "Mr. Charles' number, B flat." Over the soft vamp of the piano, Grace smiled as a few regulars recognized the song, and she introduced it.

"Vegas, here, this is a city of dreams, dreams comin' alive, dreams comin' true." She smiled at the few claps and whistles in agreement. "But, baby, we all gotta go home sometime, and home is just another word for you." Grace smiled warmly at Nick, picking up the leisurely melody of the first verse delicately, her whole demeanor shifting, as if she had stepped into a church. Her delivery reminded Sara of a prayer, and Sara realized instantly why Nick was so taken with Grace the jazz singer.

_"Georgia, Georgia,_

_The whole day through_

_Just an old sweet song_

_Keeps Georgia on my mind"_

Grace closed her eyes, her accent becoming thicker with every word that tumbled off her lip. Sara turned to Nick beside her, a quick-witted quip about his southern roots about to burst out of her mouth, when her heart swelled, seeing him.

_"I'm sayin' Georgia_

_Georgia_

_A song of you_

_Comes as sweet and clear_

_As moonlight through the pines_

Nick Stokes had forgotten that the rest of the room existed. Listening to Grace's signature song always drowned him in memories of home. He heard thirty years of homesickness each and every time she sang it. She was singing this song when he first met her; she was singing it when he had fallen in love with her. And she was singing it now, cementing his decision to ask for her hand, and her heart. He smiled, as her accent thickened, and he took comfort in knowing that she was as homesick as him.

_"Other arms reach out to me_

_Other eyes smile tenderly_

_Still in peaceful dreams I see_

_The road leads back to you"_

Grace opened her eyes, her gaze falling on Nick as Jake took the bridge. She rolled her finger in a circular motion by her hip, telling him to take another set. Nick Stokes was the kind of guy she could spend the rest of her life with. They understood each other, and deep down, where she hid her secrets, she loved him, and she knew he loved her. A southerner always finds another southerner in the end.

_"I said Georgia,_

_Ooh Georgia, no peace I find_

_Just an old sweet song_

_Keeps Georgia on my mind"_

Sara leaned over, interrupting Nick's trance, touching his arm affectionately. "So she's from Georgia, I take it." He smiled, chuckling softly, and kissed her temple, returning the friendly affection.

"A would-be Dallas cowboy, a would-be Savannah belle, it's not unheard of." He grinned, and Sara saw a sparkle in his eyes that had not been there so brightly since before Walter Gordon and his Plexiglas box, and that warmed her heart, blurring her vision with gentle tears.

_"Georgia,_

_Georgia,_

_No peace, no peace I find_

_Just this old, sweet song_

_Keeps Georgia on my mind_

_I said just an old sweet song,_

Keeps Georgia on my mind" 

…………

A/N: This is part one of two… and keep a look out for a companion piece to this, about Nick. But that won't be for a week or two. Nick Stokes is my absolute favorite character out of all the CSI and CSI spin off characters, I'd always wanted to do a piece about him, peel back his layers, etc., and I think I've found the opportunity. There will be the second part of this, with decidedly more Greg, and a smattering of Nora. Thanks for reading. Oh! And the song is 'Georgia on my Mind,' and the tempo I had in mind was of Ray Charles' rendition… because Mr. Charles is my absolute favorite.


	2. part two

Part Two of Two

………

"Stokes. Good to see you, man. Hey, Sara." Jake Norton greeted Nick and Sara as he came out of the backroom, ready for his drive home. He shook hands with Nick, and bent to kiss Sara's cheek. "What did you think of my Gracie? She's got the best set of lungs in Nevada." Jake smiled, watching Grace toss her purse over her shoulder and join them. She nodded hello to Sara, and her features broke into a grin as she turned her attention briefly on Nick, placing a gentle hand to the side of his face, pulling him down to her, and pressing a sweetly chaste kiss to his lips, before turning back to Sara.

"Hi, I'm Grace." She held out her hand, and Sara shook it, smiling.

"Hi, Sara Sanders. You were amazing."

"Well, Jacob here writes beautiful pieces." She slipped an arm around Nick's waist, catching his attention. They fit easily together, comfortable with each other. Jake nodded, acknowledging her praise.

"The music doesn't come off the page if there isn't anyone to sing it, love." Grace rolled her eyes, a soft grin on her face.

"Alright, alright. Enough." Sara could see, even in the dim light, that Grace's cheeks had a rosy tint to them. They had sat back down at the little table, Nick's arm thrown casually around the back of Grace's chair. A few minutes later the bar tender brought four cups of coffee, on the house.

"How're the kids?" Jake asked her, and Sara took her eyes off Nick and Grace for a moment, turning to answer him.

"Nora's good, liking Chicago. I left the oldest at home with a copy of Rolling Stone, though." Jake smiled at her joke, laughing softly, and taking a sip of coffee.

"Well, tell Greg I said hello."

"I will, certainly."

"From what Nick has said, I thought you only had one child." Grace took a sip from the mug before her, her attention turned to Sara.

"Well, I only have one, but I married one as well."

"Robbed the cradle." Nick grinned.

"Kettles and pots, Nicky." Sara grinned, feeling at ease as Grace laughed.

"Greg, right? Why didn't he come out tonight?"

"Meeting Nick's women is Sara's thing." Jake muttered, earning him a smack in the arm from Sara.

"He's on standby tonight, the lab sent him home." Sara took a sip of her coffee, and leaned forward. "Nick tells me you have a son."

"Yeah, Adam. He's almost eleven." Grace slipped away from Nick only just, reaching into her purse, and taking out a photo, handing it to Sara. "This one's pretty recent." Children we always good topics to break the ice, and soon Sara found that Grace was unbelievably articulate, intelligent, sweet woman; everything she could have ever wanted in a woman for Nick. She was sharp-witted, with a sense of humor that would keep even Greg on his toes.

………

An hour and a half later, Sara quietly unlocked the front door of the little house on Harris Street, and waved to Nick as he pulled out. She clicked it shut behind her, and made her way through the darkened house, dropping her keys in the bowl by the door, kicking off her shoes by the couch, occasionally shedding articles of clothing as she made her way to the bedroom. Warrick hadn't needed Greg to come in after all, when she opened the door, the sound of his soft breathing made her smile. The best part of her day was climbing into bed with him. She lifted the slimming black shirt from her frame, replacing it with a thin tank top, and slid the skirt over her hips so it pooled around her ankles, stepping out of it, and pulling up an old pair of Greg's boxers in it's wake. She unclasped the tiny diamond pendant from around her neck, placing it gently in the jewelry box Nora had made last semester, before making her way to the bed and pulling back the covers.

"So what's our official position on Grace the jazz singer?" Greg mumbled into the pillow, reaching out and pulling Sara against him, the back of the length of her body flush against the front of his. He sleepily cradled her in his arms, wrapping an arm around her stomach tightly, pressing a kiss to her shoulder before breathing in the scent of her curls. Sara smiled, settling in against him, relaxing into his grasp.

"We like her. We think she's sweet, and funny, and elegant, and perfect for Nick."

"Do we think she'll last?"

"He's going to propose."

"What?" Greg sat up only just, pulling her to face him. "He's only been seeing her a few weeks." Sara smiled warmly, placing a gentle palm to the side of his face, and he took the invitation, leaning in to press his lips to hers chastely. "Did you see the ring?"

"Nora's making it. He said he picked out a diamond and sent it to Chicago already. She's taking all those metals classes, and she's good at that sort of thing. He said he wanted something original, something different."

"He's really thought this through." Greg kissed her again, and settled back down into the bedding, pressing another kiss to her shoulder. "I'm sure she'll fashion something eclectically classic."

"I think he really does love her." Sara placed a hand over his on her waist.

"Really?" He mumbled sleepily into her shoulder.

"She's from Georgia."

"Oh, a southerner. That's perfect, then." He cuddled against her, making her smile. "You smell nice."

"Ha. Like a smoky jazz club."

"You know I love it when you smell like Miles Davis." She laughed, twisting in his hold, accepting the kiss he dropped slowly against her lips. She responded instantly, stilling her playful movements in favor of leisurely running her fingers along his arm, granting him access as he kissed her lazily.

"I do not smell." She mumbled against his kiss, making him chuckle softly.

"No, it was just a line."

"Trying to pick up your own wife?"

"Thought I'd make it interesting." He shrugged, rolling on top of her, making her laugh again. She returned his suggestive grin, and ran a hand through his unruly wavy hair, smattered with the fainted hints of gray, still very much overwhelmed by his natural chestnut brown. "What's so funny?" His words pulled her out of her thoughts, and her eyes left his scraggly hair and met his gaze.

"Nothing. I'm game for interesting if you are." He laughed softly, pressing into her hips as he placed a delicate kiss to her lips.

"Oh, I'm game."

……….

A/N: I lied about the smattering of Nora in this one… changed my mind halfway through, and couldn't work her in without interrupting Greg and Sara…she'll be in the next one.


End file.
